Come Celebrate Arts Advocacy Day in Middletown

On Tuesday March 31, the Middletown Commission on the Arts celebrates National Arts Advocacy Days by honoring the work of Peter Loffredo and the Art Guild of Middletown. The ceremony and reception will take place from 4:30 - 6 p.m. in the new Fishbone Cafe, 106 Court Street (1/2 block down from Main Street.

Loffredo, a native of Middletown, is the founder of both Connecticut Heritage Productions and the Free At Last Players. An actor, director and educator, Loffredo has worked on stages in England and the United States. CHP began in 1981 and its first major work was a film documentary of Connecticut-born actor William Gillette (1855-1937.) In recent years, the organization has produced a number of plays at Oddfellows Playhouse, the Green Street Arts Center and the Little Theatre in New Haven. The Free At Last Players, now in its 20th years, is "a not-for-profit theater group dedicated to dispelling some of the myths and misconceptions that surround mental illness." In all he does, he has a propensity for working on plays that look at social and cultural issues. Loffredo has also served as Theater Director for The Buttonwood Tree and currently teaches at ACES/Educational Center for the Arts in New Haven.

The Art Guild of Middletown came into existence in 1972, the merger of the River Valley Art Guild and the Middletown Art Association. Today, the Guild has over 90 members and is governed by a 13-member executive board. Its mission is to foster and encourage art and the development of the visual artists in the Middletown area by developing quality programs to bring artists together, provide venues for the artists to exhibit their work and provide art instructions and workshops in drawing and painting and related visual arts. They meet monthly and sponsor a yearly Juried Arts Show that takes place in the Zilkha Gallery at Wesleyan.

The reception, which features a presentation of citations to the honorees by Middletown Mayor Sebastian Giuliano at 5:30, is free and open to everyone. For more information, call the MCA office at 343-6620, extension 201.